Forage mill



March 17, 1925.

L. C. SHARP FORAGE MILL 6 sheets-sheet 1 Filed July 1922 L. c. SHARP FORAGE MILL Filed July 21, 1922 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 anuewtoz March 7. 1925.

r L. c. SHARP FORAGE MILL Filed July 21, 1922 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Marci; 17.1925.

L. C. SHARP FORAGE MILL Filed July 21, 1922 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 e F v gm 9 WW 7m I W1 I W 0 a W L Patented Mar. 17, 1925.

LEE 0. SHARP, 0F PLATTSMOUTH, NEBRASKA, PETERSTRUST "COMJEANY"EX'ECUTOR' OF THE ESTATE OF THEQ$AIDTLEETCL SHARQTDEIGEASEDT,

FQRAGE-MILLE T0 climb-120m it may concern! Be Ell] known tlliii L-YLEE Srinnr,.-a aciti zen of therUnited-States, and aresident 10f- Plattsmouth, in thez-s count-y of: Cass and State :Ofi Nebraska, have rinnented: ('(triiajllli new" andi useful llmprovements inwl oi'age Mills; ot which the itollowing isi a .specifica-i tionsi Miy innention rela teswto i orageinillslx 0r machines for igninding; and reducingiorageu materials such aswhaiy, cernistalks and the; like to a: conuninutedor; liwfllrllkQ (JOHFSlzSlivi enoy. It is the; gene-rah 013 set ofa iny inventioni to: provide -ina asingle' mechanisin the requisite :ineans forwrapidly and efie rztiively reducing n1 atejria-ls -0 f the claiss nicntioned 1 to l uniform comminuted: iproduct containing'g a 1, minimum amount of dust anch A cry fine pare tioles, an cl havinglo pieces:- langer than :a ide'v termined imaxininm. Morevparti'cular obi jGfCtS of iniy inventionane to provide means tori teaning -a up. i or 1 shredding the larger." massesot: the material: fed to the inaehine," and for canrying the shmddc'd materiali at a; contnolledirate to the -cutting devices; ,to: provide cntt-ingmechirnism adapteduto-1' duce: the stems --and iCGZUHSEl" i portions of the inateriahtoshort lengths; to PI'O'ViClG; in said duttinggmechanisinknife-plates or cutters f; such it'orrni thnteachihas EL ipluralitgv :of edges which (may l -SllC 1SSlVGlY presented: for :use, and of; such inexpensive structure that after all ointheir sharp edges havebecomedulled: the platesmay be discandedand replaeed by new onesirather than ire+sharpenedig toproq vide a coinhined screen and grindiiigimechanisin to whichithe material is? delivered ttronn the cutting: mechanism! and. to which isvalsoi delivered theqqortions of: the inateriah which; have been sufiieientilry reduced by the shreddine: devices to: provide inwsaid lastmamed: mechanisnnspace in W-hichen excess volume (it the cut: in ateri-al may \aocum ilate HtGIIIPQ rarily shoulch the rate of delivery tlieretoof;

the cut material; momentarily zexceedithe rate at which the 'material is beinggfinisihed gto, provide speed-varying driving} means by, whicln the speed-ratio ot :the vshredding;dej.+ vices to the :cutting; devices may loci-varied as. desired during: the operation f" the 41121 chine to provide a cutting-cylinder consist-- ing ofa plurality 10f lightweight =junits each having a safety dnivedevice, whereby to prevent breakage of the uniti bvengagemenh witl-i-wlange forei gn-bodies ot refractory-1n ae 1922 .12: SerialiNo.4 576,475:

teriail, such as are sometimes .iaccidentalljv present i in 5'1 the iforage materials operated upon to provide in i the main; driving con-1 nectioma safety deviceiadaiptedx to :automati cally disconnect ithe I, operating,-:mechanism fnoinnthehson-rcerof, poiver underwa :ClBi'sBII-I' mined excesshloadgi .to iprov-ide means for either moist-ening' on a slightly drying the, inill'e'd. material: simultaneously with the ider; livery thereon irom the cuttingand, wgnindr-l ing mechanism and :to. :provide certain other desirable structures. and; combinations oti p arts; as fully *set; iforth hereinattem In 1 the iaccompanying drawings Fig. 1 is: a front View of a machine embodying ny invention, Fig; 9, Y is: an endivieg v-ofi the same, Fig; 3 :is a viiew yof the endoopposite that shown'in Figfl FigA is. adetail:transverse vertical section .1 through the shredding, cut ting ;8.I1Cli igri-ndingg devices, Fig 5 His; a adee ta ilz vertical section through one of the cutting-cylinder anch {ledger-blade units, Fig, 6 is a 1 detail section on: the Plih11ix0f the line G -Wot:fFi'g ooFigq7 iSrrgt detail ,section: through 2 a portion i of the grinding cylinder or screembeater-and'screen; Fig S is a ilongi-s tudinaL section; ioffthc grinding-ovlinder or. screenbcater, Fig. 9 is detail; side :view and: pantiail axial section of the inainsafiety driveicoupling, Fig. 10visatnansverse-section, of; these-me O11itheJline1ilO lO 0t Fl-gr 9, and: Fig. 11 is a adetail; axial section on the line l1ll of Fig; 3, i Showing the 1 constrn ction of the iva-ria lole speed ClI'iNinggIIlQCllfl nism for the shredding; devices.

In the illustrated embodiment; of) 1.111)" iinfe ventilon VI lprovide; main base l2, having,- at one ",QHCl' an 1 upwardly proj ecting' portion or :pedefstal; {l3it0 whiehiis secured: the beam ing-standand 141; In=saith stamlard is nun naledithe main lriviiig sl aft 15 Wl2llG11= CEtP-g ries intermediate the i,- be-anings the main: drive'pulley 16;.iadapted fonconnection My. belt W-ith' a suitable source of power,- The pedestal l3 :is. so: proportioned that when dci:- sired the gbeaning standard niay' be replaced. by an: electric motor ot: Whichthe armaturesha-ft;willi have the St1nQ;,-,13DSii/lQI]' asv the. driving shafit 15, so LHS to rbQ/ICOHHQEtQLl: nvitln theidriven pa zts in; the isame manner as said; shaft :15. At the end; ot rthe base- 12'; adijia 1 cent to the; pedestal;13' is secnred1 the, eXa llflllSikrblflXY Ql} casingl lf the iintake; opening; 0t said, casing ,being in; communication with. a conduit;iliiiextendiiiig:lQngihl diha-Llyrof the;

base from said end, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. l. The opposite end of said conduit is turned laterally toward the front side of the machine and communicates with a hopper 19 formed integrally with the base at the front thereof. At the outer side of the blower-casing 17 is a supporting-bracket 20 for the impeller-shaft thereof, on which is carried the pulley 21, the latter being connected by a belt 22 with a larger pulley 23 on the outer end of the main drive-shaft 15. The main frame of the machine is mounted on a pedestal formed integrally with and extended up from the base 12 at the end thereof adjoining the hopper 19, a portion of said frame being extended out over the hopper and being connected therewith. In the end-portions 24 of said main frame are formed bearings for the various longitudinal shafts hereinafter referred to, and said end-portions 24 are connected by various longitudinal frame and casing members which form the enclosure or housing for the forage-reducing rollers and cylin ders.

-The cutter-shaft 25 is arranged in longitudinal alinement with the main drivingshaft 15 and is connected therewith by means of the safety-coupling and alining devices shown in'detail in Figs. 9 and 10. A coupling-disk 26 is secured on the end of the shaft 15, said disk having a pair of rollers 27 projecting from the face thereof and extending into radial diametrically opposite slots in the plate 28, which fits loosely about a collar 29 on the end of the shaft 25. On said shaft, adjoining said collar is a bearing-sleeve 80 on which is revolubly mounted the coupling-disk 31, the latter having at the face thereof a pair of rollers 32 which extend into radial slots in the plate 28 at positions intermediate the slots for the rollers 27. On the shaft 25, adjoining the inner end of the sleeve and the hub of the disk 31, is secured the hub of the drum 33, which has an annular peripheral portion extending out over the hub of the disk 31, as shown. In said hub are formed angular notches adapted to receive the beveled inner end-portions of tangentially extending clutch-pins 34:, which are disposed slidably in openings therefor in the drum 33, and are pressed yieldingly inward by springs 35, as shown in Fig. 10. The loose coupling, formed between the disks 26 and 31 by the plate 28 and the rollers 27 and 82, compensates for any slight mis-alinement of the shafts 15 and 25. The compression of the springs 35 is so adjusted that under normal loads the pins 34 will maintain a substantially fixed connection between the disk 31 and the shaft 25, while an excessive or abnormal load will cause the clutch-pins to be pushed outwardly against said springs sufficiently to permit the disk-hub to turn within the drum, the ends of the pins merely clicking into the notches at each revolution of the disk, and thus producing a warning signal to the machine attendant or operator.

The cutter-cylinder is carried upon the shaft 25 intermediate the end-frames 2+1, and comprises a series of independently mounted cutter-wheels of which the detailed structure is best shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Each cutter-wheel comprises a hub 36 fitting about the shaft and having a plurality of flat radial arms 87 reinforced by ribs at the sides thereof which are rearward with respect to the direction of rotation. The ends of the arms are pointed and on the fiat front faces thereof the rhombic knives or cutterblades 38 are removably secured by means of the flat-headed bolts 39 and dowel-pins 40. The blades 38 are doubly reversible, that is to say, that by turning the plates over to change the sides which adjoin the arms 37, and also by reversing the plates to dispose the other ends outwardly, each of four V-shaped cutting edges may be presented in operative position for coaction. with the ledger-blades. As the cutter-blades are backed and reinforced by the arms 37, the blades may be of relatively thin material, and may be formed by merely punching or shearing pieces of the required shape from sheet steel of suitable thickness, and after all of their cutting edges have become dulled, the plates may be economically replaced with new ones, in preference to sharpening the same to form fresh cutting edges. For connecting the cutter-wheels with the shaft, each of the hubs 36 is provided with one or more break-pins 42 which are preferably tubular in form and of relatively soft metal such as brass. Each of the pins 42 is carried at the inner end of a screw 41 which fits in a threaded hole in the hub. the pin extending into a radial hole in the shaft 25, as indicated in Fig. 5. An excessive load upon any cutter-wheel causes the shearing off of the pins 42 connecting the same with the shaft, and thus frees the wheel so that the shaft may turn without driving the same. Thus, minor obstruc tions, such as pieces of metal accidentally present in the forage material, if struck by one or more of the cutter-wheels, will merely cause the shearing of the break-pins of the particular wheels involved and will not form thereof, which permits the insertion therein of a suitable toolafor- Withdrawing the pieces icfromtheholes .in Whichthey are 1:.

embedded. il hel several loutter wheels are so arranged athat the-corners of zythe iblades r38 5 on adjacent-1zarinsgare substantially rin econctaet with each other, aslshown in Flga;\6,fSO :thateach .series of said blades forms, a subistantially rcontinuousxserrated. cutting edge. Ledger-blades s28- are provided of the same 1 "01111 as .the 1blades-38; each of i-said' blades 243 being secured :to: a ho-ldeix-zbloels -114- byr a holt 4:5 andmlowel-pinsd6, so'that tlreblades .cm-ay :herreyersed and inverted :in athen same Way :as said fhlades 38. llhe :holden-hlocks are zlQHlOVflibly secured :to a v rlongitudinal l frame-member 47 whichextends beneath the :cutter-cylinder at thewrearward iside; land SillCl.nllOlClQlqblQCkSR178 so positioned longil tudinally; i of" said fraaneememher, that the :ledger-blades are :inualternating relation :to the cutter-blades, or r so that the pointed end otleach entersrtheV+shapedspace-between;a pair lot a the ;others;:the working edges be-ing' :in substantially ishearing,irelationtoxeach roth er.

1 The lower-pair of feeding and shredding rollers 48' and 49 :are arrangeduabove the mutter-cylinder;asbest showrrin Rig; 4 said rollers dieing lnoui'ited respectively upon the shafts 50 and 51, and 'having pointedeteeth which are spaced :longithtlinallyasimilarly -to the ledgersblades or so thatnsa idwteeth wand thepoints otthe cutters-blades:mayinterineshrlongitudinally -Wlt'l10l1t interference with each iOtllQl'. qThe uzpper feeding :{tIlCl shredding rollershil :and 54a are'vmounted :IQSPQ'CtlYGlY" uponlshattsfiz? and 5,6;1and said upper rollers are of substantially the-sameiiOllTllrZlS the-:rlower rollers, except =-that ithe longitudinal{spacing :ot the teethis simiilar to that-of the cut'tei blades 38ywhereby 1 the teetlr Of-BStL-ld upper rollersv may pass hot-ween: the iteetlr ,otthelewer: rollers. The axes of the shafts 25., Stand 56 lie insub- "stantially a commonplanenehichiszslightly inclined :wforwardly fronr the vertical, While the raxes'zof the shaftsa; and I55 lieu-in aplaue which: ,is. inclined upwardly :and rearwardlytsom the-cutter oylinder, sothat her50 :tweentheashredd-ingrollers there-v is a-downwardlr converging throat; or: space into "which the forage material iS: 5feCl through the open upper portion ofthe housing. The (hiring devices for ithe :shreddingroHers are so arranged thatiall lo'fsaid-nollersanove downwardly at :thclsides thereof: iadjoining said throat or :feed-spaem-and so that the rapper rollers ,and Sat lare revolveddess rapi-dlythau the lower rollers .48 and :49,

the -latter in :turn being-driven :ata rate considerahlvi less than :that of the-cutter- (iyliuder. By reason of said directionsot rotation, :the intermesh-ing portions of the rear iollersMlS (11161253, and also said-aper- 05 tious ot'the front rollers 49 sand 54;, unove zin [opposite directions, .so i that thenteeth of each: tends to tclear lnaaterialrca-ughtby the xteeth of the other; and also etends :to. break and tear apart the ,longerastraws .or stems a-which may i fall between ;.the teeth. :Ittvill ,ibeyinoted; also; that athexintermeshing -portions zof it'he, roller 214d) and :the cutter-cylinder smovei in opposite fdiriections, while the :intermeshim' ortions of gthewroller e8: and :the mutter-c iuderumo ve in ithezsame :direc- ,tion; so that materials :caught hetweenrthe cylinder and saidviioHer 48-tend1t0 b62631" ')Ir'i(1*t?h10llfh and thrown down toward the dedger hlades. The-teeth of the shredding rollers rare allnso proportioned;that theyrwillnod who inmcutting .or-wshearingi relation to each other while, passing throughrthetzones ol"? intersection.

The material cut ahrlcarried through the :1 C:ijgel-'b1lfllQ by1theiCU CtelFQyhndQT tends irto-i i2 rlJGjtlllOWll forwardlyiand l119\ \,fl1lly;fl,()m1tl1'8 -lower-portion OEgfifllfl c5 1.irrder; and avourm'ed deflector-plate or hafl le' 57:2:lS provided :for directing said materials downwardlywand ="Ifzorwar-dla'iiuto the grinding orscreembcat ing'cylinder. The latteri alS \mountedron .a shaft 58;, and comprisesa pair{of-peripher- 1 allyrecessed and flangedend -plates 59 which are secured to said shaft adjoining :the ends'iframes e2 silllCliWh'lCll are connectedlo reach -other by a plurality, of flat; :bars 60, the lat- ;ter bei ug' disposed edgewiseiradially of the cylinder-wand ,tl1eir- 1encls sec;ured towthefla'ng'es of the lend-plates, as shown. :illhe grinding cylinder thuswresemhles an open 1 hp acidic-Wheel, audqis preferably of diame- -t eater:thanithat-ofithe cutter-cylinder, \EHK driven at a rate such thatsits peripheral rielocity is: equalsto orggreaterthan'that of the cnttercylinder. The-screen r61 ;is-disposed about the lower and front; sides of the cylinder, theiend portions otithe screen rest- 'ing npo1na11n11lar flanges 62 which extend imvardl mfrom illGrGllCl-filflHI-GS 24c. The rear edge of the screen is fitliflChGClrtO; pins 63-on the-frame or housinghmmher Ga-hear the .rear side of the cylinder. ,Adj'acent :tothe upper or fronteedge-of the screen an anglewhar- 65 is secuiredthereto, said 1 angle-bar ring connected i by bolts 66 with the frame r-inemher-tl'. MB means-of-saidi lloolts the screen may :be placed winder-tension and drawn snugly ahoutitheiannular flanges 62, so as tohe maintained-in a uniformeyliudrical shape,-- ith its inner surface close to. the: outer edgesof the myl-inder-bars 6O around"slightlymore than half the periphery ofnthe vcylinder. The screen is preferably formed by. a perforate metal plate of :oonsiderahle thickness, or a so that a,

the thickness of the plate-is approximately equal tothe diameteriof the openings Etheree-ilniasrshown in Fig"; 7. 1 The use oft-he thick screen-plateenables; he final milling-pf the materia-lto heletfected :hy' thercoaction th ere' 1 (III with of the cylinder-bars 60. Said bars sweep across the inner surface of the screen at a high speed, with their edges very close to the screen surface, or with said edges substantially in a shearing relation to the edges of the openings through the screen. In practice, because of the previous disintegration of the forage material by the shredding rollers and cutter-cylinder, a large proportion of the material reaching the screen is already reduced to particles small enough for the finishing product, or of a size such as to easily pass through the screen-openings. The out and shredded material will usually contain, however, a certain amount of elongated pieces, such as straws or pieces of the plant-stems, of a size which it is undesirable to incorporate in the finished product. Such straws or stem-portions are usually of smaller diameter than the screen-openings and might pass through the screen endwise if directed substantially perpendicular to the screen-sur face, but owing to the rapidity with which the surface is swept by the cylinder-bars 60 there is no opportunity afforded for the elongated pieces to pass through the screen. Thus a stem or straw A starting through the screen-opening, as indicated in Fig. 7, is immediately caught by one of the bars 60 and is cut or broken off at the screen surface. If a thin screen were employed it would be possible for the elongated particles to pass through the openings without assuming an upright or nearly perpendicular relation to the screen-surface, and some of said particles might be pushed through the openings by the bars 60 striking the ends thereof when the same were in an inclined position such as that of the stem B in Fig. 7, or at a position more nearly parallel with the screen-surface. With the thick screen, however, it will be seen that the ends of the stems will strike the sides of the openings and will thus be prevented from being pushed through the same when struck by the bars 60. The space outside the screen communicates with the hopper 19 and thence with the conduit 18 leading to the exhaust-blower, the opening to said'hopper being directly beneath the screen, and the screen being inclosed or housed by the frame-sides 2 1, the member 64, and a front housing-plate 68, so that all the air drawn through the hopper and conduit to the blower must first pass through the screen.

For driving the screen-beater or grinding-cylinder, there is provided on the cutter-shaft 25, at the end thereof opposite that connected with the main drive-shaft 15, a sprocket-wheel 69 from which the chain 70 extends to a sprocket-wheel 71 secured on the end of the screen-beater shaft 58, as shown in Fig. 3. At the otherend of said shaft 58 there is secured a pulley 72,

from which a belt 73 is extended to a pulley 74; secured on the end of a shaft 75, the latter extending longitudinally through the frame beneath the cutter-housing plate 76. A second shaft 77 is extended through the frame parallel with said shaft 75 beneath the frame-member 17. At the end opposite the pulley 74 said shafts 75 and 77 are operatively connected by a variable-speed driving device of which the structure may be understood by reference to Figs. 1, 3 and 11. Near said end of the shaft 7 5 there are mounted the plates 7 8 which are splined to the shaft so as to be slidable but nonrotatable relative thereto. The adjacent sides of said plates ar conically beveled to provide between them narrow wedge-shaped annular spaces, and the plates are pressed toward each other axially of the shaft by means of a coil spring 79 disposed around the shaft adjoining the outer plate, the outer end of said spring resting against a collar 80 which may be moved longitudinally, by means of the wheel-nut 81 screwed on the threaded end of the shaft, to vary the compression of the spring. A tubular sleeve 82 is revolubly mounted in the frame coaxially with the shaft 77, said shaft being revolubly mounted in bearings 83 disposed within the sleeve at the ends thereof, as shown in Fig. 11. On the protruding end of said sleeve 82 there is secured a gearhousing 84;, and within said housing, secured upon the end of the shaft 77, there is a gear 85. Said gear meshes with a pinion 86 which is mounted revolubly upon a stud 87 carried by the housing 84. The hubportion of said pinion extends through an opening in the side of the housing, and upon said extended hub portion there are secured the friction-plates 88. The edges of said plates 88 are conically beveled, at the same angle as the beveled sides of the plates 78, whereby the former are adapted to extend between the latter, as best shown in Fig. 1, forming africtional driving connection therewith by reason of the pressure between the contacting faces, caused by the spring 79. An adjusting-lever 89 connected with the housing 84: and extending alongside a quadrant 90, enables said housing to be swung about the axis of the shaft 77, to thereby vary the distance between the axes of the plates 78 and S8 and the effective radius of the frictionally contacting conical driving surfaces. Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that by raising the adjustinglever 89 to move the friction-plates 88 toward the driving plates 78, the effective radius of the latter will be reduced, with a corresponding reduction in the speed at which the plates 88 and pinion 86 will be driven, while movement of the lever downwardly will increase the driving radius and thus increase the speed of the driven shaft 77 relative to that ofthe drivingcountershat-t7 At that endof themachine-shown in Fig. 2, there is secured onthei shaft 77 a sprocketavheel '91, from which a chain 92 extends around sprocket-wheels 93 and 94, secured respectively on the shreddingrol-ler shafts and 51, to drive sa-i'd shafts and rollers, 'An idler-sprocket 95 is mounted revolubly on the protruding end of the shaft the chain '92 being returned over said idler to the driving sprocket 91. Onthe shafts'ot) and 51', at theends'shown inFigJiS, there-are secured small sprocketwheels96, from whichthe chains97 extend around and drive ct-he larger sprocketwhe els98 secured onthe endsof the "shafts and 56, whereby to drive the upper shredding-rollers at a speed lesstha'nthat of thelower shredding rollers.

In connectionw ith the conduit 18 which extendsi'rom the hopper $19 to the exhaust blower,there is preferably provided an inletipipe 99 which-may be connected with a source of heated air,-which maybe supplied when desiredto effect a drying ofthe milled product during its passage through thr blower and the discharge-conduit and col lectortherewith connected. There is also provided in connection with said conduit'18 a watenpipedOO, through which moisture maybe supplied to and mixed} with the milled materialwhen the same is dryer than is desirable.

Inthe operation of the machine, the forage material is fed into the throat or convergent space between the shredding-rollers, where the larger masses of the material are broken up by the combing and breaking action thereon of the teeth of said rollers. At this stage of the operation, when milling cured forage especially, certain fragile portions of the material, such as the leaves and smaller stems, become detached from the mass and are carried through the front rollers 49 and 5 1 to the screen-beater, passing thereto above the baffle 57, and being directed by the air-currents which are drawn through the housing by the exhaust-blower, the general direction of said currents being as indicated by the dotted arrows in Fig. 4;. The fragile and brittle portions of the material, which pass directly to the screen from the shreddingrollers, are quickly carried through the screen by the airsuction, and are thus delievered to the finished product with a minimum production of fine dustlike particles. The coarser portions of the material, long straws, stems and the like, are carried downward between the shredding-rollers, and thereby thrown into the cutter-cylinder. By reason of the relatively low speed of the upper pair of shredding rollers, the slightly greater speed of the lower pair of shredding-rollers, and the relatively high speed at which the cutter-cylinder is driven the descent of the material througlrthe feed throat is 'so regulated as to gprevent overloading or clogging of'the cutter-cylinder. vThe rate at which "'the material is delivered to the cutter-cylinder may be changed at anyitin ieiduringthe operation by" suitable adjustment of the lever 89 which controls the frictional variablespeed drive mechanism between the shafts 7 5 and 77, audthereby varying the rate at which the shre'dding'rollersare drivenrelatively to the speed or the cutter cylinder, By the action of'the cutter-cylinder. thereon, a large proportion of the material passing through the same is reduced to finished sizes suitalile to pass immediately through tlie screen and into "the finished product; but such, portions of the material as may -reach the screen cylinder without being sufficiently reduced areturther milled or groundat the inner surface oithe screen by the coaction of the rapidlymovingbars 6O 'and the' screen itself, as before "described. In the design of the machine it is important that the screen-area be amply largeto accommodate the output 'from the shredding andcutting mechanism, as, obviously, an under-capacity o'l the screen willlimit the'tota'l outputof the machine. Theopen construction ofthe screenbeating cylinder provides a large space i within the cylindrical cage formed by the bars 60, in which anexcess volume of the cut material mayaccumulate tem orarily i'f'for any reason the rateofdelii ery of the material to said cylinder should exceed the rate at which it will pass the screen. Unless an excessive rate of delivery of cut material to the beater-cylinder be continued for a considerable time, the temporary excess stored within the cylinder-space will be rapidly thrown outward and worked through the screen, so that normal operation will be resumed.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine oilthe class described, a double series of toothed shredding-rollers mounted to rotate on axes lying in convergent planes, a cutter-cylinder having longitudinally serrated cutting edges and disposed in the intersection of said convergent planes, stationary ledger-blades having cut ting edges arranged for coaction with the cutting edges of said cylinder, the teeth of said cylinder and of each series of the shredding-rollers being intersp-aced longitudinally and successively intermeshing at the adjacent sides thereof, and means for actuating said rollers and cylinder whereby the latter is revolved at high speed and the rollers at lower speeds but at rates increasing progressively according to the proximity of the rollers to the cylinder.

In a machine of the class described,

two series of toothed shredding-rollers disposed at opposite sides of a downwardly converging feed-throat, a cutter-cylinder disposed at the bottom of said feed-throat and having longitudinally serrated cutting edges, ledger-blades having cutting edges arranged for coaction with the cutting edges of said cylinder, the teeth formed by said serrated cutting edges of the cylinder being intermeshed longitudinally with the teeth of the adjacent shredding-rollers, and the latter similarly intermeshing with the teeth of the other shredding-rollers, and driving means for revolving said shrediling rollers at rates less than that of the cutter-cylinder and in directions tending to move material in the feedthroat toward said cylinder.

In a machine of the class described, the combination with a housing, and an exhaust-blower arranged to withdraw air therefrom of a screen intercepting the passage to said exhaust-blower, means movable rapidly across the surface of said screen in substantially shearing relation therewith to comminute materials at said surface, shredding-rollers arranged to receive forage materials between them and to deliver portions of said material to the screen, and cutting devices to which are delivered portions of the material from the sln'edding-rollers and from which the cut material is delivered to the screen.

4. In a machine of the class described, a

cutter-cylinder having series of radial arms pointed at the endsthereof and having flat forward faces extending radially and longitudinally of the cylinder-axis, rhombic cutter-blades disposed on said flat faces of the arms, and means for removably securing said blades thereon, the blades being invertible and reversible to present each of their V-shaped edges outwardly and forwardly, as described.

5. In a machine of the class described, a cutter-cylinder comprising a shaft, a series of wheels mounted independently upon said shaft, a series of rhoinbic cutter-blades rcmovably secured to said wheels and arranged to form continuous longitudinally serrated cutting edges, rhombic ledger-blades arranged in shearing relation to said cutterblacles, a support for said ledger-blades, and means for removably and independently securing the ledger-blades to said support.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a cutter-cylinder, of a series of toothed shredding-rollers arranged in convergent planes to inclose between them a convergent feed-space extending to said cylinder, means for driving said cutter-cylinder, and continuously variable-speed driving means connecting said cylinder and rollers for actuating said shredding-rollers to carry material in the feedspace toward the cutter-cylinder.

LEE 0. SHARP. 

